Two major developments should dramatically alter the way the truth commission works, reports Eddie Koch
The truth commission’s announcement this week that it will subpoena suspects in some of the most prominent political atrocities of the apartheid era comes on the eve of two other major developments that could dramatically alter the way the body has operated.
The truth process has so far been dominated by public hearings of the human rights violations committee — causing some right-wing circles to parody it as the Kleenex commission — while the body’s amnesty hearings and judgments, which involve more complex and legalistic procedures, have lagged behind.
So far 1 750 people have applied for amnesty from the commission. But the vast majority of these are people already convicted and serving sentences for their crimes — the commission’s records show that only 95 non-prisoners have so far offered to tell all in return for immunity from prosecution.
Next week political parties will present public accounts of why their members engaged in human rights abuse during the apartheid period. The amnesty committee has announced its first judgment is imminent.
Official participation by political parties in the truth process next week could open the way for co- operation by perpetrators who belong to some of the right-wing groups which have a tradition of following the example set by their leadership.
The major political parties drew lots to determine the order in which they will make their submissions to the commission. The political party submissions have been kept under tight wraps and have not even been sent to the commission in advance, in case they are leaked to the media.
First off will be the Freedom Front on Monday, followed by the African Christian Democratic Party. The Pan Africanist Congress appears on Tuesday, while the National Party will talk on Wednesday. The African National Congress will deliver its presentation on Thursday.
The Mail & Guardian has established that the NP’s account of the 1980s is some 25 pages long and deals with a broad set of strategies adopted to deal with what its members perceived to be the ”total onslaught”. The ANC’s document is ”voluminous” and deals quite frankly with abuses that were carried out by its members in the notorious detention centres.
However, thousands of agents who committed political murder and human rights abuses in those turbulent years will be much more interested in the first judgment of the truth commission’s amnesty committee.
This will be a test of how the committee will interpret its powers to grant immunity in exchange for full confessions about past misdeeds. It will provide crucial guidelines for perpetrators who are still weighing up whether it is worth their while to apply for amnesty.
The truth commission legislation states that the Norgaard Principles should be used to decide whether a perpetrator be granted immunity from prosecution for crimes committed because of political motivation. Most importantly, these state that the ”proportionality” principle — that crimes can only be forgiven if they were carried out in
proportion to the political ideal that was being fought for at the time — be used to decide if perpetrators should be granted amnesty.
Truth commission spokesman John Allen said the body was not seriously concerned about media coverage that depicted it as a toothless body unable to force ”dirty tricks” agents into coming clean about their role in maintaining white domination.
”It would be natural for perpetrators to wait for the amnesty committee to indicate how it will apply the Norgaard Principles before making a decision about whether they should submit applications,” he said.
He noted the deadline for making amnesty applications is December 15 and the commission expected a flood of requests from perpetrators who are currently adopting a wait-and-see approach towards the end of the year.
Commission vice-chairman Alex Boraine announced this week that suspected perpetrators of past political crimes will be issued with subpoenas to appear before the truth body if they refuse to offer evidence voluntarily.
The new get-tough approach will form part of a strategy that involves a series of probes by the commission’s investigative unit into some of the worst atrocities committed during the apartheid era.